We are a homeschooling family from New Zealand! We love to travel, cook yummy food, read great books, do fun hands on activities and we are passionate about living a full life.

Sunday, 3 July 2016

Having open discussions about nudity.

Firstly my daughter asked me what her circle things were on her chest, she asked if they were boobies. I told her they were nipples. She thought it was fun to say so she just sang the word nipples for a while. This is fine by me, you see it's her body. She deserves to know what those circle things are, she knows one day she will get boobies, she likes looking at my bras. You see at 5 she has no shame about her body, no insecurity, every question so innocent.

My cousin had a baby a month or so ago and she asked what baby was going to eat, I told her about breast feeding. She looked at me rather shocked, I had to convince her I was telling the truth. You see at 5 everything is new. Nipples are just nipples, bums are funny and feet are ticklish.

It wasn't until I was pregnant that I became totally comfortable with my body, before then I was always comparing myself to other people. Is this why we nudity is such a hot topic on the internet at the moment? Because when someone posts a naked selfie we compare ourselves to it and it makes us uncomfortable? Or is it because we find a naked human body really offensive? Sure some are big, some are small, some are surgically enhanced, some are scared, some have remnants of childbearing, weight loss, weight gain, injury etc. But at the end of the day it's still a human body. I personally don't find it offensive.

Being able to see more than one body type gives us more to relate to rather to rather than compare ourselves to just one.

To me a naked body is a naked body. A naked body is not sexual, sex is sexual- for that I agree there is and should be a different place on the internet for such a thing. But that's another topic for a whole different blog post!

There is a couple of social media movements I think are worth commenting on first #freethenipple. Is a male nipple different to a female nipple? Are breasts offensive? I don't think so, some social media platforms have since changed their nipple guidelines to allow both male nipples and breastfeeding nipples. But still the female except when it is not accompanied by a baby is not allowed, forbidden, instantly removed from most social media platforms.

Does this have something to do with some people's negative attitudes toward breastfeeding in public? Because we as women should never ever show the slightest part of an areola? Perhaps if we saw a few more nipples in the media this would help the attitude towards the female nipple and in turn breast feeding? Would I shield my daughter's eyes at the sight of bra-less breast? No. Again let me make this really clear, I'm talking about a breast and a nipple not a sexual act involving them.

Is it when we become more comfortable with our own bodies that we become more comfortable with seeing others?

The other social media movement I would like to comment on is one started by the awesome Meghan Tonjes #bootyrevolution. To cut a long story short what happened, this YouTube queen posted a photo of her booty on Instagram. Someone reported it for nudity and pornography- despite not even seeing a bit of crack or even but check! Then she talked about how unfair it was that her booty was censored for being plus size but there are thousands of other bikini bums on Instagram that are deemed to be non offensive because the bum is smaller. Basically Instagram apologised and reuploaded it and the rest is history.

I think it's also worth noting that neither breasts, nipples or bums are classified as genitals. No I'm not hastaging free the willie or free the vulva! There is a difference!

There are so many reasons why I love this, firstly a bum is a bum. We all have them, they all do the same things! It's about time bums and nipples were treated equally. Also I loved Meghan said about young girls having someone to relate to, someone in the public eye who is unapologetically herself, loves her body and doesn't care what other people think about it. You really should go and check out the awesome thing she does.

At the end of the day most people who post naked selfies, breastfeeding photos, bums etc do it often so if you don't like it, unfollow the account. If you are worried about your teens seeing this kind of thing you have no idea what is on the internet! If you put a cellphone, tablet, computer in front of a teenager you are opening up a whole new world and the risk of exposure to far more scaring things than a boob or a butt crack. If you are worried about this which I'm sure most parents are, these are conversations we need to be having with our young people before they go looking for answers in the places labeled "Not safe for work"

Tell me what you think. I'd love to hear your point of view, remember it's ok to disagree or have a different opinion so long as it has a base of mutual respect.